- In Psalm 104:1-9,1-4, 5-9, the almighty God is portrayed as “wrapped in light.”
- In Job 38:1-7, 34-41, 38-41, we glimpse the frightening depths of God’s power in creation.
- In Mark 10, Jesus explains that the greatest is the servant of all.
- In our sermon, based on Hebrews 5:1-4,5-10, we look at how Jesus entered the complete helplessness of being human in order to become our priest.
We Believe
GOD, THE FATHER
2.1 Who is God the Father?
- John 1:1,14
- John 14:16-17
- John 14:26
- John 15:26
- God the Father is the first Person of the Trinity, of whom the Son is eternally begotten and from whom the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds through the Son.
2.2 Why is the first of the three divine Persons of the Trinity called “Father”?
- Matthew 6:9
- John 14:9-10
- Romans 1:7
- Romans 8:15-17
- Galatians 4:4-7
- Our Lord Jesus called God his eternal Father and identified himself as his only eternal Son. Thus, the Father is, first of all, the Father of the Son.
- The Son also taught his disciples to address God as Father in prayer.
- The apostle Paul teaches that God adopts believers as his children, sending the Spirit of the Son into their hearts so they cry out, “Abba, Father.”
- As adopted children in the Son, we may address the Father as Jesus does.
2.3 What is meant by calling God “Father”?
- Genesis 1:26
- Matthew 6:25-26, 27-33
- Romans 8:16-17, 29
- In calling God “Father,” we acknowledge that God exists in personal relationship, and that we were created by God for personal relationship with him.
- God made humankind according to his image, which is revealed in his eternal Son.
- We were created to trust in God as our Creator, Sustainer, Protector and Provider, putting our hope in God as his children who, in Jesus Christ, are God’s heirs.
2.4 Does calling the first Person of the Trinity “Father” mean that God is male?
- Isaiah 49:15
- Isaiah 66:13
- Matthew 23:37
- No. Only creatures, having bodies, can be either male or female.
- But God has no body, since by nature God is Spirit.
- The Holy Scriptures reveal God as a living God beyond all sexual distinctions.
- Scripture uses diverse images for God, female as well as male. (Psalm 91:1-5)
2.5 Why does the Creed say that God the Father is “Almighty”?
- Lamentations 3:22
- Song 8:7
- 1 John 4:8
- God the Father is “Almighty” as the God who is love — a holy love that is powerful beyond measure.
- God is omnipotent — he can do anything he wants to do.
2.6 How do Christians understand the love and power of God?
- John 3:16
- Hebrews 1:3
- 1 John 4:9
- Matthew 9:36
- Psalm 106:8
- We understand the love and power of God most clearly through Jesus Christ.
- In Jesus’ life of compassion, his death on the cross, and his resurrection from the dead, we see how vast God’s love for the world is — a love that is ready to suffer for our sakes, yet so strong that nothing will prevail against it. (Romans 8:35-39)
- In the power of his love, God is for us and is eternally against all that is against us and his loving purposes for us.
2.7 What comfort do Christians receive from this truth?
- Psalm 12:6
- Romans 8:38-39
- This powerful and loving God is the one we may trust in all the circumstances of our lives, and to whom we belong both in life and death.
2.8 What do Christians mean by God’s “providence”?
- Psalm 145:15, 17
- Genesis 50:20
- Romans 8:28
- Ephesians 1:9-10
- 1 Peter 3:13
- Revelation 21:1
- That God not only preserves his creation, but also continually provides for it, attends to it, ruling and sustaining it with wise and benevolent care.
- God is concerned for every creature and, in the end, will eradicate all evil and deliver all of creation from it.
2.9 What comfort do Christians receive by trusting in God’s providence?
- Psalm 146:9
- Isaiah 58:11
- Isaiah 41:10
- 2 Corinthians 1:3-5
- Psalm 30:5
- The eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ watches over us continuously, blessing, guiding and compassionately correcting us wherever we may be.
- God strengthens us when we are faithful, comforts us when discouraged or sorrowful, raises us up when we stumble, and brings us at last to the fullness of eternal life.
- Entrusting ourselves wholly to God’s care, we receive the grace to be patient in adversity, thankful in the midst of blessing, courageous against injustice, and confident that no evil afflicts us that God will not turn to our ultimate good.
2.10 What does the Creed mean in saying that God is “Maker of heaven and earth”?
- Revelation 4:11
- Genesis 1:1
- Hebrews 11:3
- First, that God called heaven and earth, with all that is in them, into being out of nothing by the power of his Word.
- Second, that by that same power all things are upheld and governed in perfect goodness, righteousness and wisdom, according to God’s eternal purpose.
2.11 Did God need the world in order to be God?
- Acts 17:24-25
- John 1:16
- John 5:26
- Ephesians 1:22
- No. God would still be God, eternally perfect and inexhaustibly rich, even if no creatures had ever been created.
- Yet, without God, all created beings would fail to exist. (Acts 17:28)
- Creatures can neither come into existence, nor continue, nor find fulfillment apart from God.
- God alone is self-existent and self-sufficient.
2.12 Why then did God create the world?
- Psalm 19:1
- 2 Corinthians 3:17
- Psalm 67:6-7
- Ephesians 1:3-4
- John 3:36
- God’s decision to create the world was an act of grace.
- God chose to grant existence to the world simply to bless it.
- God created the world as a place to make known God’s glory, to share the love and freedom at the heart of God’s triune being, and to give us eternal life in communion with God, all demonstrating the goodness and glory of God.